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New South Wales - Organisation

Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers (c. 1904 - 1976)

  • Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers

    Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers, 1950, courtesy of Sydney Rescue Work Society.
    Details

From
c. 1904
To
1976
Categories
Home, Lying-in Home, Maternity Home and Non-denominational
Alternative Names
  • Bethesda Home for Unmarried Mothers
  • South Sydney Bethesda Waiting Patients Home

Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers was established by the Sydney Rescue Work Society in Camperdown. It was a lying-in hospital that had been part of the Home of Hope for Friendless and Fallen Women but became Bethesda when South Sydney Women's Hospital opened. This home was not related to Bethesda Maternity Hospital at Marrickville. Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers closed in 1976 when South Sydney Women's Hospital was demolished.

Details

Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers was in Stanley Street in Newtown but the street was renamed and from the 1980s has been known as Gilpin Street, Camperdown.

In 1950 the Sydney Rescue Work Society reported that 57 pregnant women had stayed at the home that year. At that time the Matron was Olive Smith, a former Deaconess, and her assistant was Miss Jean Brown. The Christian mission of the home was clear - Miss A Simmonds attended weekly to play the organ at services and the Rescue Work Society reported on the success of ensuring one mother was married to the father of her child, and another intended to become a missionary. The Society remained silent about the futures of the other 55 women, or their babies.

Location

1911 - 1976
Location - Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers was situated at Stanley Street, Newtown. Location: Newtown

Run By

Related Archival Collections

Related Organisations

Publications

Journals

  • Sydney Rescue Work Society/Society for Providing Homes for Neglected Children (ed.), The Rescue: official organ of the Sydney Rescue Work Society and Society for Providing Homes for Neglected Children, This item is available at the State Library of NSW., 1880-1910. Details

Newspaper Articles

Reports

  • Annual Report, Sydney Rescue Work Society, Surry Hills, 1950-1956, 24 pp. Details
  • Integricare History, Integricare, Burwood, 2012, 4 pp. Details

Online Resources

Photos

Sydney Rescue Work Society Annual Report, 1950
Title
Sydney Rescue Work Society Annual Report, 1950
Type
Document
Date
1950

Details

Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers
Title
Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers
Type
Image
Date
1950
Publisher
Sydney Rescue Work Society

Details

Bethesda lounge room around 1960-1970
Title
Bethesda lounge room around 1960-1970
Type
Image
Date
1960 - 1970
Source
Integricare

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: 'Survey of Social Agencies', Australian Women's Weekly, 15 July 1933. Also available at http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/48075198; Annual Report, Sydney Rescue Work Society, Surry Hills, 1950-1956, 24 pp; 'Bethesda House; Stead House', in State Heritage Register, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, 18 March 1999, https://www.hms.heritage.nsw.gov.au/App/Item/ViewItem?itemId=2030296; 'Apartment of the Week: 26/12 Leicester Street, Marrickville', Domain: Sydney Morning Herald, 25 August 2012; Integricare History, Integricare, Burwood, 2012, 4 pp; Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers [Image], Date: 1950; Sydney Rescue Work Society Annual Report, 1950 [Document]; Thinee, Kristy and Bradford, Tracy, Connecting Kin: Guide to Records, A guide to help people separated from their families search for their records [completed in 1998], New South Wales Department of Community Services, Sydney, New South Wales, 1998, https://clan.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/connectkin_guide.pdf; Thornton, Bruce, George Edward Ardill and the Sydney Rescue Work Society (now Communicare Sydney) [also titled "Haste to the Rescue"], Baptist Historical Society of New South Wales, Sydney, 2008, 118 pp.

Prepared by: Naomi Parry